When Life Gives You Lemons...........

[rtbaum]

Weather is taking a turn for the worse in Minnesota,Land of 10,000 lakes ( although a bit smaller, due to drought); Grey and dismal, most flowers are dried husks, birds going to Florida (damn you jprzybyla ). I did manage to find a couple willing subjects



Chickadee



Coots

[Fstop Manalo]

Hey Interesting pictures. There's some stuff around the pictures though. I forgot what its called but it looks a lot like image noise. Correct me if im wrong. What settings did you use to shoot these pictures?

[rtbaum]

I have been learning to shoot with a D90 fitted to a Sigma 400mm (no VR), trying out autoISO
#1 monopod, f/5.6, 1/320, iso 3200
#2 braced on window frame, f/5.6, 1/400, iso 1250

I am still in the learning phase in many ways, CiC members are my guinea pigs

[Ken Curtis]

Hi Randy.

Possibly, your main focus in #1 should be on the chickadee. You might want to zoom in on him and eliminate the confusion of that big unknown object on the right side. I have no idea what it is and I spend a lot of time thinking about it instead of admiring the bird.

In image #2, I have trouble seeing much detail in coots. Mostly I see dark objects on a light toned water. Perhaps adjusting shadows an highlights in your image processing software would help.

[dake]

Randy, the image of the coots is a little over-exposed. After you take a few shots, try taking 1/3 stop away, then try minus 2/3, etc.: take some adding 1/3 stop,etc. After you look at the shots in PP, take note of how much exposure you took away or added. Some shots, like a bird in flight you will have to add 1 to 2 full stops. Arthur Morris has a book with a chapter on exposure. His web site is Birds as Art.
Cheers